Toy dart gun



May 26, 1959 A. M. STEINER Filed'MarOh 16. 1956 TOY DART GUN I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Arran/sys.

May 26, 1959 A. M. STEINER TOY DART GUN Filed Marchv 1s, 195s 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INUHHHCWTI INVENT R.

BY )y United States Patent O TOY DART GUN Albert M. Steiner, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to Bromo- Mint Company, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application March 16, 1956, Serial No. 571,975

3 Claims. (Cl. 124-47) This invention relates to toys and it is directed in particular to a dart and to a toy gun for shooting one or more of the darts.

In the preferred embodiment the gun holds a plurality of the darts and to add realism the gun is constructed to resemble a rocket launcher with the darts aligned side by side. For further interest, the gun is constructed so that the darts may be shot from it either singly, or in groups of two or more, or all together if desired. For safety, the darts are tipped with rubber suction cups.

Copending patent application Serial No. 571,973, led March 16, 1956, now Patent No. 2,817,531, discloses a target which is specically constructed to be used in conjunction with the darts and gun of this invention. The target of the copending patent application includes an automatic scoring device which indicates not only the accuracy of single shots, but it also takes into account the risk type shots in which two or more of the darts are lired simultaneously, a plurality of darts striking the target when they are thus red resulting in a higher score than would be the case were a single dart to strike the target.

It will be seen therefore, that one of the objectives of the invention is to provide a toy dart gun which s adapted to shoot with accuracy one or more darts, either singly or in groups.

A further objective of the invention is to provide a gun I of the type set forth in which the major parts may be molded of inexpensive plastic material and the parts thus formed assembled easily and simply so as to result in a gun which may be sold at a low price.

Another objective of the invention is to provide a toy I gun and a dart for the gun, the two having cooperating structure which insures an accurate flight for the dart.

It is still a further objective of the invention to provide a novel trigger and firing mechanism for a toy dart gun in which the means for irnpelling the darts is in the form of an inexpensive, plain coil spring, the spring being interconnected with the trigger mechanism so that the trigger mechanism is automatically cocked when a dart is inserted into tiring position in the gun barrel.

These and other objectives will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the drawings in which:

In the drawings: t Figure 1 is a perspective View of the toy gun showing a dart in ight.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the gun shown partly in section to illustrate details of construction.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view of the gun taken on line 3--3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view of the gun similar to Figure 3 but showing a dart in position for firing.

Figure 5 is an exploded view showing the relationship of the barrel, breech, trigger mechanism and other gun structures.

2,888,004 Patented May 26, 1959 ICC Figure 7 is a plan view of the gun in which parts are broken away to illustrate certain details of construction.

In the drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates a toy gun having a barrel 12 to the rear of which is a breech 13 and gun stock 14. Only a portion of the gun stock is shown here because it will be appreciated that its specic shape is unimportant insofar as the invention is concerned. The gun barrel 12 and breech 13 are formed of an upper half 16 and a lower half 18 which are shown fused together by a plastic solvent. The upper half 16 contains a plurality of transverse strengthening ribs 17, and the lower half 18 also contains a plurality of transverse strengthening ribs 19 as best shown in Figure 6. Referring to Figures 3 and 4, the gun barrel 12 has a plurality of bores 20 extending the full length of the barrel 12 and through the breech 13. It is noted that a half of each bore is formed in each of the upper and lower halves of the barrel to make up the completed bore. Although this provides for ease of forming, such as by die casting, the bores could be completely made in one portion of the barrel if so desired.

Referring to Figure 2, each of the bores 20, there being five shown, has radially outwardly extending slots or grooves 21, 22, 23 and 24, the purpose of which will be more fully hereinafter explained. Here again the horivzontal radial grooves 22 and 23 can best be formed by iforming part of them in the upper half of the barrel and the other part in the lower half of the barrel; but, of course, it is recognized that the grooves can be formed by other methods. In `order to eliminate jagged or pointed edges, lands 25 are formed between the adjacent radial grooves. These lands not only provide for easier manufacturing, but also provide for smoother operation of the gun. The upper half of the barrel contains the upper half of the horizontal grooves 22 and 23, upper two lands 25, and vertical groove 21. The lower half of the barrel contains the lower half of the horizontal grooves 22 and 23, lower two lands 25 and vertical grooves 24.

In Figure 7 longitudinal ribs 26 are shown formed in the upper and lower halves and are shown extending from the barrel 12 through the breech 13. Pairs of the ribs are positioned close together to form grooves, These grooves are vertical and are the same width as grooves 21 and 24. Lands are formed on these ribs to coincide with the lands in the barrel. Therefore, these longitudinal ribs not only form lands defining the bore, but also serve to strengthen the breech portion of the plastic gun. This construction provides a bore with grooves and lands extending the full length of the barrel and breech.

In order to supply the propelling force to discharge a projectile or the like from the gun, a plain, coil spring 27 is .conned within each of the bores 20 of the barrel 12. Each bore 20, defined by the lands 25, forms a smooth surface'for guiding and for confining the spring 27. One end of the spring-27 is connected to a trigger mechanism generally shown at 28. Reference is now made to Figure 5 where in order to support the trigger mechanism in the upper half of the barrel, two of the transverse strengthening ribs 17 are positioned suiciently close together to form a recess 30. The recess 30 is adapted to receive a pivot pin 32. The bottom of the recess 30 is molded with solid supports 31 so that the trigger mechanisrn has room to pivot about the pin 32. The supports 31 merely hold the pin 32 away from the bottom of the recess 30. In order to retain the pivot pin in the recess on the line 6--6 of Figure 5.

and to align the upper and lower halves for assembling, one of the transverse ribs 19 in the lower half of the barrel 18V extends outwardly from the vrest of the ribs as' shown` at 33 to form a retaining tab 33. There is oneretaining tab between each pair of longitudinal ribs 26. "The tal?" 33 is positioned in the recess 30 for properly locating the upper and lower halves and to support the pin 32.

Each trigger mechanism 28 comprises a Z-shaped trigger 34 pivotally mounted on the pivot pin 32 by means of an opening 35. Of course, the Z-shaped trigger can take the form of other shapes. One end of the Z-shaped trigger has a release key 36 secured thereto so as to pivot or rock the trigger about its pivot pin. The trigger is of fiat sheet steel and the release keys of plastic which are formed onto the sheet steel. Alternatively, the release key and triggers both may be made of plastic and fused together or, the key and Itrigger may be made integral. The other end of the trigger has a catch 38 and a hook lit). The trigger contains another opening 4Z which is in alignment with the axis of the bore 2@ and the axis of the coil spring 27 so as to receive a hook 44- on one end of the spring 27. Since the pivot pin 32 is above the axis of the bore it enables the hook 4G to pivot into and out of the bore.

The lower 'half 15 of the gun has a partition 41 having vertical slots 43 positioned to align with vertical radial grooves 2d. The end of each of the flat triggers 34, provided with the release key 36, extend through the slots 43.

The particular construction of this gun is adapted for a projectile of the type shown by the dart 46. The dart is formed of a main body portion or stem 4S from which radial ns Sti project. The depth of the radial tins is slightly smaller than the depth of the grooves Z1, 22, 23 and 24 so as to slidably t into the grooves without causing friction to retard movement of the dart. A protuberance or barb is formed on the end 52 of the dart for receiving a rubber suction cup or the like 54 which has an opening adapted to tit snugly over the barb. Although a rubber cap has been illustrated and described, it is noted that other shapes or forms of heads can be used in place of the rubber cap such as a sharp pointed piercing type. The other end of `the stem 48 is provided with an indentation 56 which in this case has been shown as a reduced portion so as to form an annular groove. This annular groove provides a shoulder 58 which is adapted to be engaged by the hook dll when the dart is inserted into the bore 20. The indentation can also take the form of a single notch or plurality of notches so long as it is engageable by the hook 40 Positioned between the adjacent horizontal grooves 22 and 23 of the upper half is a vertically extending rib 60, there being four such ribs between the ve bores shown. Each of the ribs 6i) contains a dowel opening 62. The lower half of the barrel 12 contains similar rib construction with a dowel pin 68 on each, which pin is positioned in such a manner so as to be in alignment with the dowel opening 62 when assembled.

rl`he lower half 18 of the breech 13 is provided with a recess 72 for receiving the gun stock 14. The forward end of gun stock 14 is dimensioned so as to tit snugly in the recess 72. The gun stock 14 is provided with an opening 76 for receiving a handle or the like 78. The handle is provided with a longitudinal partition 74 and transverse ribs 80 which are so dimensioned to iit snugly into the opening 76. A base portion 82 is provided on the handle '78 so as to overlie the opening 76.

' Reference is now made to Figure 5 which shows an exploded view of the gun. In order to assemble the gun the complete trigger mechanism and springs 27 are assembled in the upper half 16 of the barrel 12. This is accomplished by first sliding each of the triggers 34 on the pin 32. Each of the triggers is then placed in each of the vertical grooves 21 and the pivot pin 32 is placed in the recess 30. While the upper half is in the inverted position, the springs 27 may be attached to the triggers. The springs 27 are positioned on the lands 25 which dene the upper half of the bore. Since the ribs 60 between the bores are die cast in proper relationship with the dowel pin and dowel opening, they will be in alignment, and in contact with each other when assembled. B'y placing a plastic solvent around the mating edges of the upper and lower halves of the barrel and between the butting edges of the ribs of the upper half and the ribs of the lower half, the halves become fused together when the lower half 18 is placed on `the upper half 16.

After assembly of the gun barrel 12 and breech 13, the gun stock 14 is secured to the breech by placing a plastic solvent around the top edges of the portion 74. The portion 74 is then snugly fitted in the recess 72 so that the gun stock becomes fused to the gun barrel and breech. The handle 78 is then attached to the gun stock 14 by placing a plastic solvent on the edges of the transverse ribs 80 and inserting it into the opening 76 of the gun stock 14. Plastic solvent is also placed between `the overlapping base portion 32 and the bottom of the gun stock so as to be fused together. The handle then becomes fused to the gun stock when it is assembled.

To operate the gun the darts 46 are placed in each of the bores 20 and forced against the springs 27. As each spring is compressed it tends to pivot each of the triggers 34 in a clockwise direction. When each shoulder 58 passes its respective hook 4i?, the hook di) will drop into the groove 56 so as to releasably retain each dart in its bore. The darts are then poised for firing. By pressing down on the release keys 36 the triggers 34 will rotate in a counter clockwise direction lifting the hooks 40 out of the annular grooves S6 to enable the springs 27 to impell the darts 46 on their trajectory toward their target. The four lands which denne each bore collectively forrn a coniining chamber for the coil spring. Furthermore, each bore is just slightly larger than the stem portion of the dart which it is adapted to receive. rThis construction permits the use of a plain, untipped coil spring which acts directly upon the rear end of the dart, centering its force in direct aligning with the longitudinal axis of the dart during firing. 'Dhe radial fins and grooves on the dart and in the barrel respectively cooperate to accurately align and guide the dart as it leaves the gun barrel. It will be noted that the spring, when relaxed, stops a substantial distance from the end of the barrel so that it can not cock the dart as the dart leaves the barrel, the last part of the travel of the dart from the gun being under the guidance of the grooves and free of the force of the spring. The radial tins on the dart, of course, function to guide the dart in flight. Hence, the gun is an unusually accurate toy. The triggers are individual and each is releasable by depressing its own key. The keys are, however, located side by side, at the rear of the breech where they may be depressed singly or in groups to shoot one or more of the darts as desired.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without sacricing the advantages provided by the principles of construction disclosed herein.

Having described my invention l claim:

l. A toy gun for Shooting a dart having an elongated stem, said gun comprising a breech portion and a barrel portion, a bore within the barrel which is configurated to receive the stem of the dart, a trigger pivotally mounted in said breech portion at a point which is to one side of the longitudinal axis of the bore, a finger on the trigger which extends from the pivot point forwardly substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bore, the forward end of said linger conligurated to pro-vide a catch, said catch adapted upon the rocking of the trigger about said pivot point to project into the bore to engage said dart for holding the dart therein, a coil spring in said bore, an arm or said trigger extending from the pivot point across the longitudinal axis of the bore, means to attach the inner end of said spring to the arm of the trigger, whereby a dart forced into the bore compresses the spring against said arm to rock the trigger about the pivot point and thereby bring the catch into holding engagement with the dart, and a portion of said trigger projecting from the arm through the rear of the breech for actuating said trigger 'to release said dart, said por- Ition moving between a raised position and a depressed position upon the rocking of said trigger between dart holding position and dart releasing position, the said portion remaining depressed in the dart releasing posiytion so as to provide a visible signal that the dart has been shot from the barrel.

2. A toy gun as set forth in claim 1 in which a plurality of barrels and associated triggers are provided, and in which the portions of the triggers which project through the rear of the breech a-re disposed side by side and in alignment with one another.

3. A toy gun for shooting a dart of the type having an elongated stem, said gun comprising a plurality of barrels which are disposed side by side, a breech portion extending across the gun at the rear of the barrels, the breech portion and the barrels being formed from an upper shell and a lower shell which are joined together along a plane through the longitudinal axes of the barrels, a vertical slot centered behind each barrel in the breech portion of the Igun, a -trigger pivotally mounted in each slot for rocking movement about -a point which is above the longitudinal axis of lthe barrel, a finger on the trigger which projects forwardly from the pivot point, a catch depending from the forward end of said finger, said catch adapted upon the rocking of the trigger about said pivot point to project into the barrel for holding a dart therein, said trigger further including an arm depending from the pivot point and bisecting the longitudinal axis of the barrel, a projection extending rearwardly from each arm through the back of the breech of the gun, a coil spring residing in each barrel, vmeans to secure the rear end of each coil spring to the arm of the trigger associated with the barrel in which-the spring resides, whereby upon the insertion of a dart into the barrel the spring is compressed against Ithe arm to rock the trigger and thereby bring the catch on the trigger finger into dart holding position, and the projections of the triggers at the back of the breech being aligned side by side whereby they may be actuated selectively to release the darts for projection from the 'gun by the coil springs, said trigger projections remaining depressed after being depressed for tiring so as to provide a signal indicating that the associated barrel has been red.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 468,089 Pratt Feb. 2, 1892 1,029,469 Schrodel June 1l, 1912 2,196,732 Lefever Apr. 9, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS 460,850 Canada Nov. 8. 1949 

